Process of treating grease wool



May 3, 1938. R.J. WIG 25116294 PROCESS OF TREATING GREASEQWOOL med Aug. 24. 195e O/nen,

.T'e eze .Freeze L O/ven @/ea/z Heeze Open L Sure . 6' l para? Heeze l ar Patented May 3, 1938 NrrED STATES PATENT QFFICE PROCESS OFTREATING GREASE WOOL Rudolph `lames Wig, San Marino, Calif., assigner to California Process Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Application August 24, 1936, Serial No. 97,671

7 Claims.

obtained in the manufacture of woolens. and

10 Worsteds.

In all commercial processes of treating grease Wools it has been necessary to Wash or scour the Wool before carding it, because the Wool contains or retains so much grease or oil that if it is attempted to card it the grease adheres to the card wires and soon renders the card useless thereby occasioning much delay and expense, and materially lessening the efficiency of the carding machines.

` The washing or scouring ofthe raw Wool prior to carding results in considerable entangling or felting of the Wool fibres; and the ltearing apart in the carding machines of the tufts or entangled libres causes much breakage of the fibres With 'consequent lessening of their value; as long bres are most desirable. Another objectionable result of Washing or scouring of @grease Wools prior to carding is nibbing of the fibres; that is, in the n scouring process the ends of some fibres are doubled up or rolled into nibs which cause unevenness in the nished yarn or wool tops.

My invention avoids all the disadvantages of preliminary Washing or scouring of grease Wools;

and enables such Wools to be opened and carded i prior to washing; and'further enables the Washing operation, if desired, to be performed on the Wool after it has been carded and While in the form of a sliver or bat.

The standard Woolen and Worsted cardingmachines deliver the carded Wool in the form of a bat, which is condensed into a continuous rope, commonly referred to in the industry as a card sliver, or a roping.

In my' process before carding the grease Wool 4:5 is subjected to a loW temperature suflicient to freeze the grease on the Wool, Withoutr injuring the libres; a temperature as low as 15 F. to 60 F. below zero may be used, although higher temperatureswill suffice on some Wools. While in `50 such frozen condition the Wool is carded. Preferably the Wool is opened up by a beater or duster either before orafter refrigeration, but it must be carded While in a frozen condition, and the carding machine also maintained at such a` low 55 temperature that the grease on the wool will not be so warmed thereby as to tend to stick to the cards.

In this specification Where the term wool is used, I mean to include Wool or animal fibres and other bres which contain extraneous grease or oil and can be subjected to low temperatures sufcient to freeze the extraneous grease or oil Without rendering the fibres so brittle or stiff as would cause breakage thereof if combed, etc., While at low temperature. Further, by the expressions frozen wool" or freezing the Wool I mean that 10 the Wool or other bres have been or are exposed to a temperature sufliciently loW to freeze the extraneous grease or oil upon the fibres; but the fibres retain suflicient flexibility so that there is 15 no appreciable breakage of the fibres when combed, etc., at low temperature.

When grease Wool is exposed to freezing temperature, the grease becomes brittle. If in this state the grease Wool is passed through an opener, the tufts of Wool are spread apart sufciently 20 and the libres released from the glued effect of the grease so that it can be fed on to a card and carded before it becomes materially entangled.

Preferably I Would place the carding machine in the chamber containing the refrigerating and 20 opening or dusting apparatus, or at least in a room which is kept at sufciently low temperature to keep the Wool and machine in a refrigu erated condition; and introduce the frozen Wool (Without exposing it to normal atmosphere) di- 30 reetly from the opener or duster to the carding machine, and thus card the Wool While in a refrigerated condition. From the refrigerated carding machine the Wool is discharged in a continuous sliver or bat; and the cleaned and carded wool in the form of such sliver or bat can be most efficiently and economically washed to remove the small amount of grease and dirt remaining in the Wool Without producing the undesirable entangle- 40 ment or felting and nibbing of fibres that occurs when loose grease Wool is scoured as above mentioned.

It is cheaper to Wash the Wool in the form of a sliver than when in loose condition. After the 'fibres are thoroughly separated onthe card, the

batting in the form of a sliver may, either before or after gilling, be Washed with a much less resultant felting and entanglement of the fibres.

The Wool sliver or bat can be readily Washed in the so-called backwasher machinesI used by the Worsted industry for removing oil and dirt (which has accumulated in carding) from the card sliver after it has been gilled and before combing. While it is common practice to backwash the card .55

sliver either before or after gilling; if it is desired to do the backwashing after gilling, it may be preferable to have the gill box arranged in the refrigerated chamber.

With some wools it might also be desirable to do the combing in the refrigerated chamber, in which case the combing machine could also be placed in such chamber.

'I'he Wool may be retained in a refrigerated state from the time it enters the chamber as a grease wool until all the operations thereon have been performed which it is desired to complete before the Wool is scoured. After the wool is discharged from the refrigerated chamber, it may be desirable to wash it before any subsequent operations are performed upon it.

In my process as stated after carding the frozen grease wool the wool may be washed, or may be gilled and combed before it is washed. Inmy process all the steps such as opening, carding, gilling, andcombing may be performed While the wool is in a refrigerated condition, or at' such a temperature that wool containing grease does not cause trouble in the carding, or gilling, or combing machines. The freezing may be accomplished in one compartment or chamber, and the carding in another refrigerated compartment or chamber; or the carding machine may be in the same chamaber as the refrigerating apparatus. If desired the gilling and combing machines may be similarly located in the same or different refrigerating chamber; or located in the refrigerating chamber with the carding machine. The arrangement of the machines may vary according to the work desired to be performed on the wool prior to spinning it into yarn or prior to washing the so treated Wool.

While the process is especially designed and adapted for the treatment of grease wool, it may be also used for theY treatment of other fibrous materials containing such amount of grease, Wax or oils as would interfere with the carding'thereof under normal atmospheric conditions, and which material would not be injuriously affected by the low temperature employed.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated diagrammatically some of the variations of treatment of grease wools in accordance with my invention.

In the diagram, Fig. 1, grease wool is passed through a refrigerating means, an opener and a carding machine all contained in a refrigerated chamber, so that the wool is frozen and then opened and carded in its frozen condition, and before it is discharged from such chamber. After it is discharged from such chamber the Wool can be spun without washing, if it is of the proper quality; or it can be re-carded and spun without washing; or can be gilled, combed, re-gilled and then spun withoout washing. The various subsequent treatments. of the wool after it is discharged from the carding mechanism depends upon the grade of the Wool and the use to which it is to be put. If it is desired to wash the wool after the carding, the carded Wool in the form of a sliver could be washed, re-carded and spun; or washed recarded, gilled, combed, regilled and spun; or washed, gilled and spun; or washed, gilled, combed, re-gilled and spun.

After opening the wool might also be cleaned or screened in the refrigerating chamber before carding it; such opening and cleaning could be performed by a single machine such as described in the Brown Patent #1,894,154.

If desired, as indicated in Fig. 2, the freezing and opening; or freezing, opening and cleaning; might be performed on the wool in the refrigerated chamber; and then the Wool discharged therefrom and stored; and when it is desired to card the wool the stored opened and cleaned wool could be re-frozen and then carded. After such carding the wool may be treated in any of the several ways hereinabove stated as following the carding in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in Fig. 3, the grease wool before being frozen may be opened up by any suitable mechanism and then 'admitted into the refrig- Verating chamber and frozen; and then passed to a carding machine within the refrigerating chamber; then the carded wool can be subjected to further treatment in any of the ways above described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

As indicated in Fig. 4, the freezing apparatus, the opener, the card and gill, may be all placed in one refrigerated chamber, and the several operations successively performed upon the wool while in frozen condition in such chamber. The gilled wool 4discharged from this chamber may then be combed, re-gilled and spun; or may be re-gilled, combed, again gilled, then spun, according to the use to which the Wool is to be placed. If desired the gilled Wool discharged from the refrigerating chamber may be washed before re-gilling, and then treated as above described with reference to Figs. 1-3.

As shown in Fig. 5, the freezing, opening, carding, gilling, combing and re-gilling mechanisms may all be contained in one refrigerated chamber. rThe re-gilled wool can be discharged from the chamber and taken to the spinner; or if desired such re-gilled wool may be Washed, again gilled and then spun. Other variations may be used; but in each case it is. essential that the wool be carded while in a frozen condition.

In my process if cleaning is desired I preferably refrigerate and clean the grease wools by apparatus described in the aforesaid Brown patent but the small percentage of grease remaining in the cleaned wool will cause trouble in the carding machine as it melts and fouls the cards when such Wool is run without washing it through the carding machines in the ordinary manner at ordinary room temperatures; and my invention will prevent and obviate any possibility of such trouble.

The opener, card, gill and comb may be located in the same room or in different rooms, although it would be preferable to keep the wool in a frozen condition until all these operations have been completed, unless the wool is washed before thev gilling or combing operation.

The carding operation in the worsted process is for the purpose of iiberizing or separating the individual fibres from one another, so that they can be drawn apart with the least possible entanglement. The bres are not delivered from the card parallel to one another in the ordinary carding operation. While the fibres may be somewhat parallel during the carding processing, as the bat is delivered from the card in the form of a sliver, much of the paralleling has been destroyed, and the fibres may assume different relative positions in the bat. The gilling operation is one in which the card sliver is passed through a series of combs, these combs tending to parallel the fibres. Therefore it is customary to pass the card sliver through several gill boxes before combing. In the combing operation, the long fibres are separated from the short fibres which are known as noil.

If the wool is to be used in the manufacture of woolens, it need not be gilled, or combed; therefore, it can either be fabricated directly into roping by the carding machines in the refrigerating chamber; or discharged from such chamber as a sliver` or bat and formed into roping on another carding machine at normal temperature, either before or after Washing.

My process is applicable to any grease Wool or animal fibres Whether or not it contains vegetable or other foreign matter. Such wool or fibres. may be frozen by any suitable means, opened by passing through some standard type of opener and then fed, through a standard Wool feeder without such exposure to atmospheric air as would soften the grease, into a woolen or Worsted card; the opener, feeder and card al1 being in a refrigerated chamber or chambers.

I claim.:-

1. 'I'he process of treating wool, consisting in subjecting the wool to a temperature that will refrigerate the wool and congeal the grease on the fibres, and thereafter subjecting the Wool to a carding operation While the Wool is in a refrigerated condition with the grease congealed thereon. Y

2. In the process as set forth in claim 1, the freezing and carding operations being performed in a refrigerated chamber.

3. The process of treating Wool, consisting in subjecting the Wool to a temperature that will refrigerate the Wool and congeal the extraneous grease on the fibres, opening such wool while in refrigerated condition, storing the Wool, and

thereafter again refrigerating the wool and carding it while in a refrigerated condition.

4. The process of treating Wool consisting in subjecting the wool to a temperature which will refrigerate the Wool and congeal the grease on the fibres, opening and cleaning such wool, and thereafter subjecting the Wool to a carding operation While the wool is in a refrigerated condition with the grease congealed thereon.

5. The process of treating wool, consisting in subjecting the Wool to a temperature that will refrigerate the wool and congeal the extraneous grease on the bres, opening and cleaning such Wool While in such refrigerated condition, storing the cleaned wool and thereafter again refrigerating the cleaned Wool and carding it while in refrigerated condition.

6. The process of treating Wool, consisting in subjecting the Wool to a temperature that Will refrigerate the Wool and congeal the grease on the fibres, and thereafter subjecting the wool to a carding operation and to a gilling operation while the Wool is in a refrigerated condition with the grease congealed thereon.

7. The process of treating wool, consisting in subjecting the Wool to a temperature that will refrigerate the wool and congeal the grease on the fibres, and thereafter subjecting the Wool to a carding operation, to a gilling operation and to a combing operation While the Wool is in a refrigerated condition with the grease congealed thereon.

RUDOLPH JAMES WIG. 

